Minimally invasive surgeries, whether performed as a teleoperated (robotic) procedure or manually, often involve delivering a surgical instrument through a cannula to a surgical site inside a patient's body. To reduce the size of incisions and/or permit advancement along small paths in a patient's body, it can be desirable to reduce the overall lateral dimensions (e.g., diameter) of both the cannula and the instrument. However, relative movement between the surgical instrument and the cannula may result in wear and damage to either or both of the surgical instrument and the cannula as the surgical instrument and cannula contact one another. In particular, galling may occur between the cannula and the surgical instrument, which may result in damage to the instrument and cannula. Further, galling can prevent the surgical instrument from moving along the cannula. Therefore, it may be desirable to provide a surgical system that improves resistance to wear and damage, particularly from galling.